The Australian national team are now pushing towards the Asian Cup to be held in Qatar in January 2011.

Two friendlies this week against Switzerland and Poland have netted a draw and a win under new manager Holger Osieck and there is a little more to crow about in regards to style of play in the early stages of the new Socceroos era.

The German tactician has the team playing with a slightly more fluent game plan than Pim Verbeek did but as captain Lucas Neill pointed out, it is only in the infant stages and there is plenty to work on moving towards Asia's biggest competition.

''The character and the determination we showed were great signs,'' he said after the Poland win. ''We still have a lot to work on. We are not going to kid ourselves.

''The talent is there and the potential is there and we need to learn from our mistakes and hopefully we start peaking as we get closer to January.''

Despite the more attacking game plan, the Socceroos' defence looked shaky at times but Osieck has a lot to work with ahead of friendlies with Paraguay and Egypt in October.